Subject to Torment
by Altering Creation
Summary: It's a cruel world where I only survive because others have died. I'm a fire type girl in a Resistance full of typed humans like me fighting to learn the source and reason behind our creation that often turns into a battle of survival in a world that created and rejects us. But there's more to life than surviving, right? (review my story and I'll review yours)
1. Chapter 1: Suject 62

_Author's Note: Welcome to this new story! Thank you everyone! Don't hesitate to review or PM with suggestions or criticisms that are **constructive**. Thank you world! _

_Little Disclaimer Here: Also, if you take a look at this lovely cover, it was illustrated by a very close friend of mine, Christine! THANK YOU BUDDY!  
_

The screeching sound of chalk against the metal floors of my cage stopped making me flinch long ago. "Today it has been..." I stopped to count the seemly endless white chalk ticks on the steel floor. They covered almost the entire ground. My cage was about 10 feet wide and 6 and a half feet tall. I stopped growing at 5' 6'', but they had to heighten the cage for my friend. "Wow!" I whistled. "Today is the 11 year anniversary of Doomsday!" Of course, only we called it Doomsday; that's what it was for us.

"Sucks to suck, doesn't it?" my friend Frost said while leaning against one of the walls of the cage. Leaning against the bars always hurt my back but it never seemed to bother him. At his height, he was 6' 2'' and was the reason our cage has been made a little taller. Casually, he chewed on his nails and spit them out near the outside of our cage. Frost's eyes were red but he didn't look evil. His hair was a very pale blue and sometimes it even looked white. His hair was short and stuck up a lot in the back. It reminded me of frozen icicles which makes sense because his natural body temperature was 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Frost had an angular face with sharp features. He wasn't the kind of person to miss a single beat. His eyes seemed to pierce through any lie and any barrier. I was the only one could see through him though.

He wore simple clothing because that's all they gave us. The two of us wore cargo shorts but his were longer and black. Mine were a faded camouflage with the pockets at the sides. They didn't have any female styles. We both wore simple white T-shirts that were one size fits all. Shoes were something we didn't have and it even took a lot of arguing for me to get them to give me a bra.

"Yup," I nodded in agreement. "So, how old are you now?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. 18 I think. I was 7 when I was taken so 7+11 is 18." He raised an eyebrow to me. "What about you, Scarlet?"

"I think I'm 16," I responded while sliding down the bars to sit casually too. The bars dug into my back but I ignored them for once. I gazed up at the metal top of the cage. The soundlessness of the lab was sometimes overwhelming and it made me uneasy. Vague memories of the night I was taken began to resurface. I hastily pushed the thoughts away and turned back to my friend who was moving onto his other hand.

"You never seem to run out of nail to chew on," I remarked.

Without looking up he spoke. "The damn things keep growing back."

I looked down at my own hands. They were covered in scars and dirt was caked in my nails making them look like black crescent moons. I tired to remember the last time I washed my hands, or anywhere else for that matter, but I couldn't seem to.

"Do you think our families think we're dead?" Frost asked with a nonchalant tone. I wondered if he would even care if he was dead.

"Probably," I said while trying to pick the dirt out of my nails. I didn't really care about the dirt; it was just something to keep my hands busy. "I don't really remember them though so I doubt they'd even remember me." I couldn't help but notice Frost's particular interest in the subject. Normally, we didn't talk about our families. "Why?" I asked, trying to sound easy about it.

"No reason," he shrugged my comment off.

"What time is it?" I questioned. I had just woken up about half and hour ago but there were no windows making it hard to tell the time.

Frost stood and stretched. His back cracked like bubble wrap as he put his hands in front of himself and arched his back. "I have no idea. I only woke up a few minutes before you."

I continued to mindlessly clean off my hands. This was our lives. Just living in a cage. I'm nicknamed Scarlet because of my abilities to control fire. Yup. I'm fireproof, I breathe fire, create it, make it flicker, use most fire-type Pokemon moves... I couldn't always do that though. I was kidnapped when I was five years old and brought to this lab. Frost and I were brought here together. They named him Subject 56 and I am Subject 57; he was seven and I was five. We called that day Doomsday, because it was the day our lives were ruined.

The region we were in was Unova. That much they've told us. I only had a vague memory of my Doomsday. I was in a forest when they took me. It was nighttime but I don't know if I was alone. They seemed to materialize out of nowhere and take me away. I do remember that was the night I received the scar on my face. I must've put up a good fight because they turned their Pokemon on me. I'd never forget the Weavile that clawed at my left eye. A long red line ran through my left eye that started just under my eyebrow and tricked its way down to the top of my cheek.

Frost remembered less about his Doomsday than I did. I can't help but wonder how long it took our families to notice we were gone... Since I was so young, I can't remember where I'm from, I don't remember my family, I don't even remember my real name.

I bet you're curious who 'they' are. Well, so am I. I don't understand so much about this place. Why did they even want humans who could use Pokemon abilities and control types? That's what the Pokemon are for!

The sound of air frosting over jerked me out of my thoughts. I turned my attention to Frost who stood beside me, longingly clutching the bars of our cage. His knuckles turned white with the intensity at which he grasped them. The air around his hands seemed to freeze. Ice began forming as a frosty white chill crept up the bars as it sprouted from his hands.

"Frost," I said gently.

He turned away with angst heavy in his eyes. "I know," he grumbled. I craned my neck to see the ice Frost set on the bars of the cage. Ice is beautiful. The artificial lighting from the lab caught in the ice and even that looked pretty when it glittered on the frozen water. I loved it when Frost created ice... but unauthorized use of our abilities lead to serious consequences. Where did you think Subject 55 was? I held my hand out towards the ice that glazed the bar. I closed my eyes and felt my fire to bubble up within my body spreading invaluable warmth. When I allowed my eyes to open, the ice was trickling town the bar like tears until it amounted to a puddle at the floor.

"You have to be more careful," I said.

The room our cage was in was a lab. There were no windows but the sent of antiseptic hung heavily in the air. Long lights were installed in the ceiling and ran up and down the roof. The low drone of the electricity never slept and never let me sleep. There were multiple silver colored tables running along the perimeter of the room. The tables were all bare and whipped to be perfectly clean. Our cage was in the back of this large, spacious room and sort of pushed off to the corner. In the center of the room, there was a large table with chains dangling down the side. Subject 59 died on that table. But there were no bloodstains anymore.

In the corner on the far side of the room, there was a metal cart. The cart was loaded with countless syringes, flasks, tweezers, beakers, graduated cylinders, scalpels, scissors, gloves, aprons... What more could a girl want? They were all organized in alphabetic order and quantity. This place was free of error. Anything that was an error or caused an error was gone. Just like the clouds that race across the sky.

The large vault-like door began to creak with news of a visitor. Frost and I both snapped our heads to the door at the same time. When the heavy, bulletproof door finally made it open, no one came in for a while. I heard the sound of whimpering and flinched already expecting what was coming. One of them came in. This one was female with a hard, stolid face. Her long white lab coat was perfectly ironed and not a single crease dared to show. Her brown hair was perfect in a fitting bun. The light reflected off her glasses to hide her eyes from us.

She wasn't the one I was paying attention to though; it was the little boy she was tugging beside her. She gripped him by the wrist and yanked him forward when he walked to slow and he'd give a whimper of pain. This boy seemed to be no older than seven... Maybe eight. The clothing he wore was ragged and torn. He was wearing sport shorts that were black and baggy with two blue lines running down either side. His shirt was blue too, like the sky. His short blond hair was matted with dirt and blood while the blood on his clothing was just beginning to dry. Chunks of his clothing were torn apart and even the right sleeve was completely severed. His innocent brown eyes were stretched wide with wild fear. His eyes were already puffy from crying and more tears bubbled up in his eyes.

"Subject 56," the scientist nodded to Frost. She turned to me. "57." Mercilessly, she shoved the fearful child in front of her. "Meet Subject 62."


	2. Chapter 2: Ink Stained Tears

_Author's Note: Thank you SO much to everyone who is supporting this! Yay! This was a speedy update but I have so many ideas for this story bubbling around in my head! I love it! THANK YOU WORLD!_

The day they dragged Subject 58 to us, I was a little excited. I was eight at the time and it had been Frost and I together since I was taken three years prior. The trauma I was experiencing was still fresh on my mind, as it was being renewed each day, and so when I saw Subject 58, the only word in my mind was... _friend?_

Subject 58 was about five years old when they brought her to us, the same age I was when I was taken. Her hair was jet black. I remember thinking it was like the color of ink. When she first arrived, she was ragged and torn much like Subject 62, but her hair was shiny. Her eyes were a wide, innocent brown, also stained with tears. The clothing she wore was a simple, black dress. It was shredded like she just crawled through barbed wire. The moment she climbed into the cage with us, she crawled into a corner and curled up without speaking. I tried to approach her many times, but after a while, Frost told me to just give her some time.

Finally, she opened up. It had been a week and it was the dead of night. Or rather, we were sleeping. We can't tell the time here. She was shaking my shoulder gently to bring me out of the world of sleep. When I looked up at her, all I remember was thinking how thin she looked... how fragile... how broken. Her face was gaunt from not eating and her hair had lost its shine and had fallen to a dull charcoal color. When her eyes met mine, all she could do was cry; her tears flowed as she let the flood gates open.

I sat up and put my arms around her without a word. I held her as she wailed into the empty cell. The closed walls of the lab allowed the sound to echo through the room and come back to slam us. Her tears stained my sleeves and she gripped onto my back. The mournful agony this place had brought her was released. Frost had woken up at this point. He sat behind the girl and rubbed her back with a soothing rhythm to calm her down. Hours seemed to pass, days even, until she finally calmed down.

She pulled herself away from me and hugged her legs to her chest. When she calmed down enough, we decided to introduce ourselves.

"My name's Frost," Frost had said. "They call me Subject 56, but we never _ever_ call each other by their forsaken labels. We use our nicknames." He turned to me with a confident smile. "Right, Scarlet?"

I nodded in agreement and nudged Frost on the shoulder. I could sense the girl was lightening up as her fears began to leave her. "Yup! These aren't our real names though. We can't remember our real names so we just named each other. Do you know yours?"

It took her a moment to respond but she shook her head without a word. Before I could stop myself, I spoke. "Ink! Your name could be Ink because your hair is kinka like ink!"

"That's a terrible name!" Frost responded while turning away from me.

The girl shook her head though. "I like it," she whispered although it was barely audible. She had an accent, but I couldn't make out where it was from. Ink looked up at me. "Is that why you're called Scarlet? Because your hair is red?"

I was born with chestnut brown hair, but through the genetic engineering to make me a fire type, a side effect was my hair changing to red. It was a deep red. Like fire. Frost's hair wasn't naturally whitish blue either. His hair was golden blonde when I met him. His eye color remained the same red they've always been while mine are still their original clear blue, like water. "No," I shook my head. "I'm a fire type human so that's why."

"Fire type?" Ink whispered. "Like a Pokemon?"

I nodded. "Yup. I wasn't born that way but these people did something weird to me and now I'm a fire type."

"Can you _evolve_?" Ink's eyes widened with astonishment.

I couldn't help but giggle. "I don't think so."

Ink's wide gaze turned to focus on Frost. "What type are you?"

Frost responded by holding out his hands. White, powdery snow materialized in them from the air. It pulled itself together to form a long, glittery icicle. "Ice type," he breathed like he couldn't believe it himself.

"Quit showing off!" I retorted. With a flick of the wrist, I shot a small ember of fire at his icicle. The icicle hissed with pain before it melted to the ground.

Frost laughed and I joined it. Pretty soon, even Ink was laughing along. After that, we became really great friends. Ink began to eat, to stop whispering... Her hair became shiny again as she earned the name Ink. Frost and I would have to leave sometimes though. They would take Frost and me out of the cage and we'd have to continue our training. Every day were forced to train through a variety of subjects. Wilderness survival, Pokemon battles, war strategies, our own genetic altering... They didn't make Ink jump right in though. They gave her time though and allowed us to heal her. They noticed how we had healed her and brought her up from the ashes. After about a week, they began testing her, just like they did to Frost and me when we first came here...

That's when we lost her.

When Frost and I came here, we had to undergo truculent tests. They weren't a piece of paper with question on it, these tests were torture. They literally tortured us and observed the results on a clip board. My first test was- get ready for this- fire. I stood in an empty room that was loaded with surveillance cameras. The room was empty and the walls were bare aside from large windows that lead to a room adjacent to the one I was in. Eight scientists were lined up, all of them with clipboards. They were here to observe me. I was watching one of them mindlessly click their pen when without warning; fire erupted from the ground and burned deep into my flesh. I remember the pain was so intense that after only 30 seconds, I blacked out. When I woke up, Frost my leaning over me and tending to my burns and I was back in my cage.

Early one morning, Frost and I were getting ready to train. The usual scientist opened the large vault door for us and let us out of the cage. Before she closed the door, she beckoned to Ink. With a startled look on her face, Ink hesitantly stumbled out of the cage. She looked to me for reassurance but I don't remember if I gave a look or horror or a reassuring smile.

When we made it to the door, we stood in the hallway, unsure of where to go. Ink was holding my hand and I noticed her knuckles turning white with the force she clutched my hand. Another scientist strode out of a room on the far end of the hall. My heart skipped a beat. The room the second scientist came out of was the room I was tested in with fire three years ago.

When the man made it down the hall, he looked at Ink. "Subject 58. Come along."

Reluctantly, Ink let go of my hand. Time seemed to stop as she forced herself to let go of me and walk towards the man. Her little five year old legs were short and she had to take seven steps to get to him...

When she stood beside him, she turned to face us. Tears burned in her eyes but she'd never let them fall. Frost and I gave her a reassuring smile and a thumbs up even though I could practically feel the horror in my eyes. She gave a little wave before the man led her away. The scientist who had come for Frost and I began to lead us to our destination as Ink and me and Frost went our separate ways. Every few steps, I would turn around and look back with the dread clutching me harder after each footstep. The sound of a door slamming shut made my knees buckle. I knew she went into that room. The room she'd be tested in. I felt myself hit the floor hard on my knees when they buckled. I'll never forget the horrible pain I felt for my new friend. Ink... I named her that. Frost helped me up and avoided my gaze. I caught a glimpse of a tear of his cheek. He understood too.

That evening, they brought her back to us and she looked worse than I could have ever imagined. She was curled up and unresponsive when a female scientist lowered her into our cage. There were no visible marks on her and I couldn't understand what was wrong with her. Of course, now all these years later, I've realized it was poisoning. They sent poisons running through her veins. Just thinking about it allows hatred to fire up in my eyes. I don't know how they did it. Maybe they just injected her. Maybe they set a few Zubat on her to poison her. I tremble when I think about it. Maybe they were going to turn her into a poison type... I have no idea.

I remember that on the night she was brought to us, Frost and I both stripped down naked and used our clothing to fasten a little bed for her to sleep on. The cold metal floors were no place for one so sick to lie on. Occasional muscles spasms would rack her body as she trembled with pain. Her skin was ghostly pale and her eyes were unseeing even when they were open. She would start screaming at random points over and over. Frost and I would try to calm her down but she never heard what we were saying. If we tried to touch her, she would wither in pain and screech. I didn't sleep a wink that night... or the next night or the one after that. Frost and I stayed awake, tending to her every need although there was nothing we could do. For three days Ink lay there in pain. During Ink's illness, we weren't forced to train. They observed us though, every second of every day to see how we dealt with it. Ink was our training now.

On the third day, the unthinkable happened. I was leaning against the bars when the fateful hour arrived. Maybe that's why the bars hurt my back now. They never did before. The hour struck during the time we normally slept in. Ink began screeching again, but I remember that the only thought that flashed through my mind was _this is a different scream than the others... _It was louder, more forceful. Her sudden fit frightened me and I stumbled over to her. I knelt beside her and Frost was standing behind. Ink's condition had grown much worse over the three days. All of her bones jutted out of her skin from not eating and her cheek were deep pockets on her face. Powerful spasms racked her body as she shattered under the pressure of the poison. I didn't realize I was crying until I saw my tears drip onto her arm. Her hair that was so pretty like ink was now a faded gray. But Ink had died three days ago. Her mind was lost to the poison with only this shivering corpse behind. I never thought about death until that moment. The moment Ink stopped screaming.

When they brought us Subject 59, I was friendly with her. I don't remember too much about this one, only that she died on the table in the middle of the room. I only knew her a day and even then she seemed off. They already tried a poisoning test on her and then dissected her on the table. All of it right in front of me.

Subject 60 arrived within a year. He seemed nice enough but I didn't allow myself to get attached. When they gave him the bug test, he died within a day. Subject 61 was about another year later although he was about 20 when he came to us. The ghost test was what killed him.

All this time, I've clung unto Frost. He's the only one I'll ever love. Watching Ink die was all too much for me to handle. Subject 62 was going to die. Just like the others.

The sound of my cage closing and the lock being fastened jerked me out of my thoughts of Ink. I turned to see the scientist who brought Subject 62 to us leaving. She had left the door open when she came in and as she left, she pulled in closed behind her. I looked over at Frost who met my gaze with steady eyes. At the same time, we turned our attention to Subject 62 who was crawling over to the far corner of the cage. He brought his knees against his chest and hugged them tightly. He didn't do too much else for the next week.


	3. Chapter 3: Fireproof White Lines

_Author's Note: Welcome one and all to Chapter Three! Thank you to everyone whose reading! It means a lot! Don't be stranger and review and stuff. I'm open to all opinions! If I didn't miss an error or something, leave it in a review or PM me or whatever. THANK YOU WORLD!_

It's been seven days and Subject 62 has hardly moved since they brought him to us. There was a scientist who was opening the many locks on our cage. When the door was finally open, Frost leapt out and reached his hands over his head to stretch. I was inexplicably apprehensive about leaving Subject 62 behind again. After Ink died, the other subjects didn't last for more than two days. Subject 62, however, had been here a week already. I shoved the memories I had of how worried I was about Ink when she first arrived away.

"Subject 57," the scientist said sharply. "Come on."

Reluctantly, I stepped out of the cage and tried not to look back at Subject 62. Frost gave me a questioning look with his eyebrows raised. I knew him well enough to know it meant _Are you ok?_

I nodded and gave him a fake smile but he didn't seem convinced._ I_ didn't seem convinced. The scientist led us out of the room our cage was in and sealed the vault-like door behind us. We stood in the metallic hallway before the scientist gave our instructions for our daily training. Every single day, Frost and I have to undergo serious training. They never tell us what they are training us for. When we ask, they just say "For a better tomorrow." I sure as hell would like to see where this better tomorrow is, because it's starting to sound like a load of tauros crap to me.

When I was young, most of the training revolved around preparing me for my genetic alteration. When I was preparing to become a fire type, my arms would be burned. I remember how they took me to the testing room and chained my legs to the ground. They sedated me when I burst out crying. I was trembling with fear as I fell to my knees on the cold metal floor with the smell of antiseptic chocking me. I was so afraid of them. How could I not be? When I was only 6?

After they knocked me out cold, they would bring in fire type Pokemon. There was a tepig used on me because I was so young. The tepig would blast my arm with a series of embers and the occasional flamethrower. Even through the barrier of unconsciousness, I still felt the pain.

They'd record the results of my burns. They wrote down things like the damage I sustained, how long it took for me to take it... Things like that. I was sent back to my cage at that point. I'd be given a week to heal so my last burns wouldn't have an influence with the results of the next test. On the mornings of those dreaded tests, they would give me fireproof clothing. That's how I knew it was testing day. I would be brought to the testing room again and when I got there, they would inject me with some crap they conjured up in a lab. With the injection coursing in my veins, they'd burn my arms again and record the new results to see if the injection resulted in any changes in the way my body resisted the fire. When they ran out of flesh to burn on my arms, they moved onto my legs.

Each and every night, Frost would coddle me and stoke my hair. In our cage with the lights that never turned off, he would hold me and keep me safe. His arms were the only place I was ever safe. Without him there, I would never have lived through the tests.

It was my 15th test. I can clearly see that day over and over again. I was in the testing room again in a fit of pure hysteria. Both of my arms and legs were crusted with blisters and every bit of movement hurt. Even now, I still have blotches on my body where I was scarred. My legs were chained to the ground again. I fell to the floor as my knees buckled with fear and hugged my legs to my chest. Breathing was a challenge and each breath was shakier than the last. After my second ankle was secure, a scientist injected me with a new liquid.

They didn't even bother to sedate me anymore. They stopped after about the 10th test I think. When the tepig, now evolved into a pignite, was thrown into the room with me, I couldn't even see through my fear. Terror in the form of a white mist crept into my eyes. I leapt to my feet and tried to scramble away from the blazing pignite. The shackles rubbed painfully against my burns and pain forced me to tumble to the ground.

Through my tears, I saw the pignite approach me. Without hesitating, it blasted me with a fury of flamethrower. I raised my arm to protect my face and drew a sharp breath... but I felt nothing more that a warm breeze. I dared myself to open my eyes. Before me, I saw a wall of red and yellow mixed with a gentle orange. Beautiful flames danced past my body. They grazed my skin like kisses from the wind with a pleasant feeling. The warm wind rushed through my hair and it soothed me. When the flames died away, I was disappointed that they had to end.

When the last ember evaporated into the atmosphere, I slowly stood up. For some reason, I felt... triumph. The pignite wore a bewildered expression as though he couldn't believe his eyes. How could such a simple girl survive through such powerful flames? Through the window that led to the room where the scientists observed me, I saw each and every one of their faces. At first, they were stunned. The pignite looked to them for instructions and one of them flicked their wrist to the Pokemon. Taking this wrist-flick as a command, it blasted me with another flamethrower.

The collage of warm colors blasted through my body. A warm breeze swept though and floated gracefully in their air like a distant melody. As the fire died, I couldn't suppress a smile at this new power. The scientists were frozen in shock, but they erupted in cheering. Then they were overjoyed and began to fling their limbs around in victory. They were... dancing. A victory dance. They were always so stolid and impassive so this experience was a little unnerving for me. I wasn't sure why everyone was happy. I was just relieved I wasn't getting scorched anymore.

After that, I endured many, many more painful tests.

As for now though, most of my training centers on the Art of War. "Are we working inside or outside today?" I inquired the scientist.

"Inside." Emotionless. As always. With a brisk walk, she pulled ahead of us. We went left down long corridor. At the end of this hall was the testing room. As we passed it, a shiver snaked down my spine. The corridor fell into another one that veered to the right. As we walked on, Frost fell into step beside me.

"You feeling ok?" Frost's worry was unfeigned.

I shrugged. "It's just 62... I-I'm worried about him. I don't know if he'll ever wake up."

"I hate to sound heartless," Frost said in a way that indicated he was about to say something heartless. "But, we have our own problems. We have to stay strong."

I shivered when I realized that Frost was right. I hastily surfaced a new topic to talk about. "Do you know what we're studying today?"

"Why do you always ask me questions I could never possibly know the answer too?" Frost said but not in an unfriendly way.

My response was cut off as we made it to one of the classrooms we always worked in. Sometimes we worked 'outside' but I figured out a long time ago that it was just an artificial habitat. Today we are doing some class work. The scientist who led us here herded us into the room. Without saying goodbye or anything, she closed the door behind her and left Frost and I alone in the room. I knew she was going to get our teacher.

The classroom was a simple room with wooden floors and white walls that were made of cement. There were two wooden desks with two simple classroom chairs beside the desks. One pencil and a piece of chalk were placed on each desk. In the front of the room, there was a large blackboard that was perfectly cleaned.

The room wasn't unfamiliar and I strolled over to my desk. Mine was the one on the right. Frost and I never outright said whose was whose but we I just normally sit on the right while he just naturally floated to the left. Frost and I lazed around in wait for our teacher to show up.

We got bored after about five minutes of waiting. To pass the time, Frost stood up and took his piece of chalk. He went up to the blackboard and began to sketch. I stood behind him as I watched in awe as the white lines began to connect and take shape. "What'cha drawn?"

"You," he whispered without looking up. "I'm drawing you the way I think you were before Doomsday... in an ingenuous state."

Contently, I smiled and didn't miss the heat in my fireproof cheeks. I couldn't take my eyes off of the white lines. Frost was right handed; I was a lefty. It's just one more thing that's opposite about us... With a steady hand to guide it, Frost's chalk glided across the board, and the sound of chalk scraping against the board had become soothing. Frost... He was my only solace in this cruel, menacing world. I knew I was his only solace too. This mutual need for comfort brought us together. We were both captive by misery. But whose misery were we trapped in? Our own? Or memory's? Theirs? It the sky still truly blue, even in the nighttime? I closed my eyes and focused on the sound of Frost's drawing.

Abruptly the sound of the chalk ceased, and my eyes fluttered open in response. When I opened them, what I saw was more beautiful than the fire that passed through me when I was a child. Frost had drawn an image of a small girl who was only about five. She was sitting in the branches of a tree with sunlight falling through the leaves of the summertime life. Her clothing consisted of a simple T-shirt and female style cargo shorts. Her hair was cut short but it was pretty. With wide eyes, she gazed out at me. There was no scar slashed across her left eye. No burns on her arms and legs. Her eyes free of tears. She was outside, without chains around her neck, and there was nothing holding her back as she sat atop the tree.

She was free.

She was... me.

Those fireproof white lines glittered even at the center of this torturous world Frost and I lived in. A small girl who wasn't a captive of misery... She didn't exist anywhere but in the world of what could've been. "Frost," I breathed, unable to contain my happiness. "It's beautiful..."

Frost smiled with himself. "Thank you," he said humbly.

"There's only one thing I don't like about it..." I said without taking my eyes off the stunning image.

Frost's eyes flickered with surprise and even annoyance. "What? What's wrong with it?"

I picked up the chalk from my desk and stepped up to the backboard. I wasn't very good at drawing but I allowed the chalk to tap against the blackboard. As I watched the lines form and take shape, I was a little surprised with myself. Just below the girl in the branches, a little boy of about seven sat, gazing out at me and Frost. His hair stood up a little bit and was a light color. Instead of frosted icicle like hair, this child's hair was like a golden field of wheat that swayed and stood up in the breeze. His eyes glistened with happiness and freedom. He wore the same clothing as the girl but his shorts were baggier. There were no remnants of frostbite tests on his arms or legs. The harshness this place brought Frost was shattered...

And he wasn't a captive of misery.

"I'm sort of glad that I'm here." I said the words before I could stop myself. I gently placed the chalk on my desk and turned to Frost. "Because if I never came here, I might not have met you."

Before Frost could reply, a jet of white water shot across my face. I leapt back and gave a yelp of surprise. My head snapped to the door and I saw the scientist who normally taught Frost and me standing in the doorway. A hose hurling a jet of powerful water at our picture obliterated the lines on the blackboard. After what seemed like forever, she finally turned the hose off. Water dripped from the mouth of it like the hose was drooling, hungry for more happiness to wash away. The scientist wore the same never crinkled lab coat and glasses that reflected the light to hide their eyes. This one was one of the only scientists whose name I knew. It was Mary.

"I didn't hear you come in," I offered a sheepish smile. "You startled me."

"How long have you been there?" Frost's eyes were wide. I noticed with a flash that this was the first time I'd ever seen Frost miss a beat.

"Long enough," Mary said coldly.

That's when I understood. This place was meant to be perfect and anything that wasn't perfect was annihilated. Dreams of freedom and hope didn't fit their crude definition of perfect. Mary turned away to put away the hose. The sound of her high heeled shoes echoed down the hallway.

Before she came back, I stole a look at the picture Frost and I created with a heavy heart. Water that was cloudy with the white chalk streamed down the board like tears. Just like the tears that spilled out of my eyes. The stained water trickled its way down to the floor and formed a small puddle.

Fireproof white lines, huh? No one said anything about water... But that's just the way it goes... when you're a captive of misery.


	4. Chapter 4: A Lesson to be Taught

_Author's Note: Ok, really short chapter but it has a lot of meaning. Since it was so short, I'm likely to update again very soon so keep on the look out! Don't feel shy and review, PM, whatever! Thank you world! =D_

Needless to say, our chalk was confiscated. When Mary finally returned, Frost and I had already soundlessly slipped into our seats. I couldn't bring myself to look away from the chalk stained water that trickled down the board with no complaint. Mary used a washcloth to mop up the water that remained on the board. Even after getting blasted by water, the board was still stained a light shade of white as the legacy of our lost picture. I sighed and rested my head on my desk while using my arm as a pillow. The sadness I felt was so unbearable that I had to close my eyes. I suddenly became aware of the chill in the room and suppressed a shiver. The dull buzz of the lights rang in my ears, vibrating through my already hallowed out soul.

"Subject 57," Mary said with a clipped tone. She must've been done washing off the board. I didn't respond or make any sign to show I heard her. "Subject 57," she said again with a little more force. "_57_," the warning in her voice was predominant.

"My name," I took a deep breath as I sat up to look her square in the eyes, "is Scarlet."

I never dared to take my eyes off or her. I sensed Frost's surprise at my sudden defiance; he was usually the defiant one. Even through Mary's glasses, I saw something flicker across her eyes. Surprise? Fear? Hatred? Could it be that she was taunting me to say it again? She kept a straight face, but her eyes told a different story. She was the scientist who would sedate me when I was child during my tests, until she decided to watch me fight my way through the fire by myself. My tests were her idea. She wanted to be the one blasting me with flamethrowers.

One night, when Frost and I were asleep, I heard someone come into our room. It had been about a month since I had arrived. Up until that point, I had been doing simple training. They taught me normal things, like the alphabet and the 17 Pokemon types. They brought in a man who said that his hidden power was reading others' hidden powers. He determined that mine was fire and it was decided that I was to be a fire type. Soon, they began to construct my tests.

The vault-like door screeched with news of a visitor as it always does when someone comes along. When those people came into my room I froze immediately. No one ever came into our room when we were sleeping. For once, I was sort of grateful to the bars that separated us. I was deadly afraid of those scientists. My back was facing away from them and I didn't dare to open my eyes and see who it was. I recognized the voice of Mary, the one who taught me all the simple things.

"We need to follow through with my plan," she said.

One male scientist who I've come to recognize now as one of the ones who observed me behind the glass replied. "Why though? It's only a fireproof test. We can just burn her hand once or twice."

"Just burn her hand?" Mary said with scorn. "Don't you remember what we're training her _for_?" she said over the noise of clanking metal which let me know that she was rummaging for something through the cabinets. "It may seem like petty Pokemon names and letters for now, but both of those children have a higher purpose and this is how they'll attain it."

"That method isn't working! That's why she's Subject _57_," the man argued. "She is 57! We started with Subject _1_! Do you remember him? Subject 1! Do you!"

"He was a test subject and nothing more," Mary's voice was hard, impassive. Her voice was free of regrets but was edged with a faint warning. The man gave a sigh of exasperation. "Neil," Mary said while referring to the third of their party, indicated the talk about Subject 1 was over. "Don't you agree with me? That Subject 57's tests should follow my direction?"

"Two pidgey, one stone. Right?" Neil's voice was dark, much like his ideals. "Test her fire resistance and teach her to suffer at the same time. Perfect for her final role."

The second man's horrified gasp made me shiver. "Neil! How could you just turn your back on her now!" he gasped.

The clanking of metal stopped as Mary stopped looking for whatever it was she was looking for. She turned to face Neil to hear the answer, her interest in it obvious to me. There was a heavy moment of silence before Neil gave his reply which stuck my own heart like a dagger. "You've turned your back on the 56 before her."

The second man had no answer to that.

"Subject 57," Mary's hard eyes glittered with impatience that jerked me out of my memories. "Your name is Subject 57."

I slammed my fist on the desk and ignored the pain that shot of up arm following my outburst. My pencil clattered to the ground like it was trying to run away from me. As I stood up, my chair fell backwards behind me. The loud clanking it made as it tumbled to the floor was followed by a silence heavier than a snorlax created out of shock at this act of rebellion. "My name is _Scarelt_." I balled my hands into fists at my sides. "Did you think it was the picture on the wall I gave a crap about! It was the children in the picture!" I snarled at her, surprising myself at my own ferocity. "You killed those children by dragging them here, altering their genes and forcing them to be what _you_ want them to be!" I pointed at Frost without taking my eyes off Mary, whose sheet of cool ice shattered and was replaced with horror. "Frost. That's his name! Not Subject 56! His normal body temperature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit and guess what? That is well above freezing! He's still a human! He is not what you want him to be, not a walking blizzard. He's still himself." I stole a look to Frost. He was standing now. In my rant, I didn't notice him rise to his feet. His expression was frozen in shock at my sudden temerity. He broke the ice with a small smile to say _I got your back_. Frost took a step towards me and stood by me and turned to give a frosty glare to Mary. We were in this together, just like everything else. Captive together, freed together.

I whipped my head back to Mary filled with more confidence than ever to the point where it was almost smug. "I know what you did to him; what you did to us! You stole our memories the moment we were brought here. I've read about Uxie! Uxie, the mythical Pokemon that can take away memories... You where the one who taught me about him! You forced him to take our names, our families, our lives, our _freedom_! All of it taken from us!

"Why did you use flamethrowers on me? To teach me to suffer! You can't teach someone strength. It's a lesson to be learned by themselves! Those chains around my ankles are going to melt. It's too late for Ink, it's to late for Subject 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and all the way to me, but Frost and I will no longer be captive by misery! It has been 11 years and I REFUSE to be Subject 57. Not now and not ever!" I placed my closed fist in front of me like I was holding it out to Mary. Her eyes flickered towards my hand and then back to me with fear. I allowed my fire to flow freely and I released my constraints. When I opened my hand, a large flame erupted out of my palm and the sound of burning air that brushed a breeze through my face. It left the slash across my eye with a tingling sensation, like it was about to be avenged. The fire's light flashed before all of our eyes with its energy, but it quickly died down to a crackling light about the size of a book. The warmth from the fire was hot on my face but under its truthful light, I could see Mary. I briefly wondered what she though of Subject 1 when she first met him. Did she know the tests would kill him? I smiled smugly at the fear on her face. She'd seen the way the burns scorched me, leaving my now fireproof skin scared where the flames licked me. "You created us. So... Destroy us."


	5. Chapter 5: Cutting Loose

_Author's Note: Yay! Another chapter has made it out to the public! Read and review and stuff. Thank you to all the support! THANK YOU WORLD! =^_^=_

I tempted her. Taunted her. Dared her to take away the little freedom I had. For a moment, I thought she wouldn't do it. I thought she didn't have the courage to take us on; if I were her, I probably would've run. With light swiftness, she charged right as Frost and I like a bullet. As she used her back legs to hurl herself towards us, her glasses flew off with the speed of her movements. Beside me, I heard Frost draw in a sharp breath. With nimble grace, we both dodged but we broke apart. I jumped left and he went right.

I landed right on top of Frost's desk in a crouched position, almost like a purrlion. Frost had landed on my desk and was cautiously rising to his full height. Mary landed in the middle of us. With a bewildered expression on her face, she stopped dead in her tracks. She glanced from me to Frost as though she couldn't remember why she pounced at us or how we ended up on the desks.

As Mary turned to me, our eyes met. I narrowed mine in warning and shoved as much rage in my glare as I could. Something was off about Mary's eyes though. They were cold and calculating... They were literally calculating. Data in the form a binary code scrolled across her eyes in bright green letters like her eyes were a computer screen. My heart skipped a beat and I jumped back in fear. I tumbled to the ground and Frost's desk rattled to the ground as I fell off of it.

"Are you ok!" I heard Frost call out to me.

"H-Her eyes!" my words tripped over each other with my fear. "There's code in them or something!"

"What are you talking about?" Frost stiffened and crossed his arms.

I turned my attention to Mary who was moving in jerky spasms that seemed to lack control. As Frost noticed them, he grew tense and we both watched with keen intent. The code began to flash across her eyes faster and faster reading 00110101 00110111 00100000 00110101 and so forth. Within moments, it was scrolling by to fast to even pick out any of the stray numbers. Her body jerked as she thrust her face upward. Her lips parted as a high pitched screech escaped while slashing its way through the air. The height of the note made my ears feel like they were about to bust apart and the vibrations from the waves pulsed through my body like a second heart. My hands flew to my ears to block out the noise that was enough to bring a Pokemon like Arceus to its knees.

I desperately forced myself to keep my eyes open against the pain. When my gaze landed on Frost, I saw him hunched over in agony as the sound slashed both of our minds. Against my will, I felt flames erupt all over my body. The pain of the noise ripped away my control over my abilities as my fire engulfed my entire body. The sound the fire crackling as it consumed the air drowned out enough of the infernal screeched for me to stand up. My hair wasn't very long but it was whipping with the flames like they were one. My eyes were electric blue, like water. They were like shards of ice that were visible through fire.

At that moment, I was grateful that I wasn't a small bikini model girl. I was raised as a warrior, under the toughest martinets. My body was strong and powerful. I could fall ill and it wouldn't take me weeks to recover. I could go without food for days at a time and take a fair share of hits before I went down. I could smash through concrete thanks to the martial arts training Frost and I received. The words delicate and frail weren't in my dictionary.

With my fire protecting me from the screeching, I lunged at Mary. I squeezed my hand into a fist, and right before I delivered a powerful blow to her head, I could hear the flames eating her hair and skin. As soon as my fist collided with her head, she fell away. It felt like I was punching styrofoam to be honest. As soon as she fell to the ground, the screeching was cut off with a strangled cry. I stood over her broken body for a moment as I tried to force my flames to die down. The control I let go off was starting to slowly return to me and I gripped it even tighter. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. As I exhaled, my fire was doused like I was blowing out a candle.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Frost snapping his fingers right beside his ears to see if he could hear out of them. He looked from Mary to me and though with a shocked expression as he tried to piece together what happened. I think the fact that the side of Mary's head was still smoldering gave it away.

"Scarlet..." he breathed as he hopped off the desk and over to me. "That was amazing! How did you come up with that?"

"It just sort of... happened," I explained in a voice that was barely a whisper without taking my eyes off of Mary's body. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the gash in the side of her head. I didn't hold back at all because I thought she was a robot or something because of the code that flashed across her eyes. The heavily bleeding wound with bits of skull jutting out told a different story though. I couldn't believe it though... I-I killed her.

I felt a chilly hand brush my cheek. Gently, it pushed my face away from Mary's broken body and turned my gaze up towards Frost. "Scarlet," he gently chided. "Don't pay attention to that." I took a moment to really take in Frost. He smelled like crisp night air in the wintertime. His hair stood up in all directions like glittering icicles and was even a whiteish blue which was completely unlike his deep red eyes that didn't look evil despite their color... They were like warm, flickering flames. _Flames..._ Frost's eyes were red like my fire while mine were blue like ice. There was something nice about that...

I reached up to hold the hand Frost kept to my cheek but before our hands met, the door to the class room burst open. The two of us broke apart in fright with Mary's blood splashing at our feet. At the door, about 15 scientists stood. The one who was on the front line, a man, took one look at Mary's broken body and then looked to us. No grief was in his eyes. There was no regret for his fallen companion, no remorse for her death, only a burning desire to bring Frost and me to our knees.

Code scrolled across his eyes, and across the eyes of the scientist behind him, and the scientist behind him, and the scientist behind her, and all the ones after him.

"They are human, aren't they?" I asked with a feeling of nausea in a tight knot at the pit my stomach.

Frost's eyes flickered towards Mary. "Seems to be the case."

"Are we going to kill them?"

"Every last one." Frost growled as that gentle Frost I hardly knew evaporated.

I turned to face the scientists who took away so many lives. They killed Ink. They killed those two children in the picture. They killed Subject 1 all the way to Frost and I. And who could forget out 59, 60, 61, and 62? _62! Crap! I forgot about that kid..._ "Frost," I said. "If we're going to blow this popsicle stand, we have to take Subject 62 with us."

"Damn!" Frost cursed. "I forgot about him. Let's just hope they haven't tested him yet." Frost released his grip on his control as his ice was released. When he let loose, his power flowed off of his body like white mist. It reminded me of dry ice and how the frothy air swirls around it when it is exposed to the atmosphere.

Free of hesitation, Frost charged at the front line. I hung back for a moment with reluctance freezing my in my tracks. My thoughts flashed back to Neil. He was speaking with Mary on the night they determined how I was to be tested. I didn't want to kill him because he stood up of me. Even if it didn't make any difference in the long run, at least he tried. Unlike Mary of course. The only scientist whose name I knew was sprawled out at my feet and probably half way to hell by now. I shuddered and wondered if I was going to hell too. If I decided to kill all these people, maybe I would end up going downstairs.

I placed my hand in front of me. My knuckles were a little scratched where Mary's broken skull chipped away some of my flesh. Like lighting a match, I let my hand erupt into flames. Somewhere that seemed far away, I could hear shouting and the occasional bone cracking thud of someone's back being snapped in half. The fire danced in my hand, begging to be free. It wanted me to just let go and loosen my grip on control.

"SCARLET!" Frost's voice pierced my thoughts. My head snapped up immediately to see Frost fending off three of the ruthless scientists mindlessly clawing at him. Out of the ground, a wall of ice arose as a shield. The ice cracked and shattered soon enough though, subjecting Frost to their will once more.

I allowed my control to slip away like sand steadily falling through an hourglass. Immediately, my body flared up as my entire being was swallowed whole by the fire. This time, it died down rather quickly as I still held the reigns to some control. Even though my fire wasn't literally in a wall around me anymore, I could still feel its presence more than ever.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a memory was triggered. Flame wheel, a Pokemon move, surfaced to the top of my mind. Part of my fire training was learning how to use Pokemon fire type moves. I jumped into the air and curled up into a ball and used the power of fire to propel myself into a spinning motion. As a ball of fire, I rocketed myself forward like a bowling ball to barrel through the scientists. I wheeled past Frost and took out the three who were on top of him. They staggered backwards but never fell.

I landed gracefully beside Frost and turned to see the scientists. The green coding flashed across their eyes faster than ever before and their movements were becoming jerky and mechanical. They had a pulse though. I knew they weren't machines. They began to approach us again, much like mindless zombies. They paid no heed the fact that my flame wheel left their clothing ablaze. Seeing their flesh deform as the fire consumed it was grotesque but they didn't seem to mind.

"Don't let your guard down!" Frost warned while conjuring up a sword out of ice. It gleamed in the light of my fire making it look beautiful.

I gave a shaky nod but I could feel fear churning in my stomach. How could I let Frost see it though? I could never show him my fears. What was I afraid of though? Taking their lives? I had to be strong for him and for Subject 62. I had to be strong, so I could be free.

Frost took a deep breath and put one of his hands on the side of his mouth like he was calling out to someone. "Ice beam!" he roared as a powerful beam of ice shot through the crowd, freezing two scientists before the beam was ended. Before I could say anything, Frost clutched the ice sword and leapt right into the crowd just slashing at anything that came to close.

Of course, I wasn't going to be left behind and so I joined in. I allowed my hand to fire up and I released the most powerful fire punch I could muster onto one of the already smoldering scientists. He crumpled to the ground like he was made of paper machete. The heat of his body was so intense, that before it was even spilled, his blood began to evaporate. The coding faced away from his eyes as he died as it escaped like wisps of steam into the air.

The feeling of bones crunching under my fist made me gag the first couple of times as I moved on to take down each scientist. After a while though, it stopped to bother me as I got into the zone. Not only did it not bother me, I was _enjoying_ it. The feeling of their life leaving their bodies was something I came to relish; I hated myself for it but it was keeping me alive. I released every ounce of control I clung onto and my body lit into uncontrolled flames. After about six fire punches, my knuckles began throbbing with pain. I switched to blaze kick which was another favorite move of mine. I found that only one blaze kick to do some critical damage whereas I'd have to perform about three fire punches to get the same amount of damage.

Through all my training, I was taught how to control my fire and light candles and basic stuff. I was never allowed to let lose and just be free though. It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. The flames just kept on replenishing themselves and never ceased to burn as bright as the sun. I put both hands up to my mouth like I was calling out to someone to see if this new move would work.

"Flamethrower!" I called to my fire, commanding it to produce this effect. It responded with a wave of fire that poured out of my mouth. I aimed it as a row of mindless scientists who were making their way towards me. The fire blasted them and knocked them right off their feet. When they burned, I didn't stop there. I just threw myself backwards and watched in awe as my fire sprouted right up to the ceiling of the classroom. It burned its way through the roof until a dark substance became visible.

My fire dwindled in confusion because I was expecting to see the sky through the hole in the ceiling, not some dark grainy matter. The substance trickled its way down and began to fall at my feet. I ceased my fire and took a moment to stare at it. With a jolt it became clear. _Soil! We are underground!_

But there was no time to muse upon this discovery. I whirled around to see only two scientists remaining on their feet. Frost lunged at one of them, hardly noticing the dirt that scattered the ground. Using his ice sword, he hacked at the scientist who was so deformed by my fire, I couldn't tell if it was a male or a female. As it collapsed, Frost wasted no time spearing at the last one. He sliced though him with ease. Frost looked around wildly looking for another one to slay. His eyes fell upon me and he almost lunged towards me. I jumped back I surprise as I saw recognition flash across his eyes.

"Scarlet!" he said in surprise. "It's you."

"Were you so into the fight you didn't notice you killed them all?" I retorted trying to keep the edge out of my voice. I surveyed the mess we made as my adrenaline began to die down. The classroom's walls were splashed with blood and pieces of the wall were kicked in at various positions. The door was in shreds and hanging off its hinges while the desks were nothing more than stray bits of debris. The chalkboard was half hanging on the board and covered in scratches and scorch marks. There was still a cloudy mark where the picture Frost and I drew at been. Stray shards of ice lay scattered like diamonds on the floor. The long lights that were wired into the ceiling were shattered and flickering weakly. The worst part about it all was the bodies though. They lay scattered on the floor like debris from the room. Blood pooled onto the ground that splashed when I took a step. My bare feet felt cold despite the warmth of the blood. I tried not to look at their faces.

_Their faces..._ Dread hit my like cold water. I began to tremble with realization as dizziness began to take control of me. All those scientists that I just slaughtered... were people. They had names and faces and lives. I was happy to see them die. How could I be so messed up? Was all of my humanity... gone?

"We really roughed this place up," Frost mused as he released his ice blade back into the air he formed it from. It took a moment before he noticed the hole in the ceiling I created. "Is that dirt?"

"How can you be so nonchalant about all these dead people at our feet?" I whispered without taking my eyes off the ground. I clutched my stomach as my eyes fluttered from face to face. I killed them. I took their lives. Once my fire started burning, I just lost control. I didn't realize what I was doing until it was too late. I underestimated my power.

"They're the scientists. How can you feel bad for them?" Frost was looking at one of them in disgust. He turned back to me. "You said it yourself; they held us captive by misery for 11 years. They had it coming."

I shivered from the guilt. "I wanted revenge on them for everything but... seeing them like this makes me feel like I'm the bad guy. We are no better than the scientists Frost... We are just like them..." my voice trailed off as guilt began to slash at my mind like a chainsaw.

Frost snorted with scorn. "We are way better! They killed 59 people, a large percentage of them being children. We killed-" Frost broke off to count the bodies on the floor, "15 people who were horrible anyway."

"Why did they even want us?" I mumbled to myself and maybe to the dead scientists.

"I have no idea."

"They were training us for something huge," I said without much feeling.

"It doesn't matter what they were training us for. We're free now!" Frost argued. "I don't see why you care so much!"

"I don't see how could can have so much apathy towards this! We are standing in _blood_!" I almost shouted.

"We had to kill them! They were going to kill us!" Frost's voice was raised even higher.

"I was so proud!" I cried. "After all they did to us, we still had a shed of our humanity left! We were still human beings! But this," I gestured to the bodies on the ground, "only shows me how inhumane we are! I'll admit it, ok! As I was blowing off all my flames, I was enjoying it! I was so relieved to see the light leave their eyes! The destruction of my fire consumed me and made me want more. I was carried away, but now..." I let my voice trail off and I buried my face in my hands. "How could we just kill them in cold blood like that!"

Frost lifted one of his feet which was drenched in blood. Blood dripped off his toes and into the thick red pool below him. "Their blood is quite warm actually."

"Frost!" I gasped. "H-How can you be so horrible!" An image of Frost when he was younger flashed across my mind. When he was younger, he was so kind. He stayed up all night with Ink and I. He would stroke her hair as she was dying and even as she was healthy, he would tell stories of freedom and say the best jokes. He would always consol me during my time of testing and use his limited ice powers to cool down my burns. His tests were frostbite but they weren't as harsh as mine. We'd work together like we were one person, but I've noticed that Frost as become harsher, crueler, menacing almost. And I abhorred it.

Frost was quickly losing his humanity. Frost was becoming the walking blizzard they wanted him to be. A killing machine with incredible power. The mold they created for him was starting to fit. The Frost I knew was fading away faster than the sunsets. A moment ago, when I was troubled by Mary's body, he told me not to pay attention to things like that. I thought he meant for me to pay attention to him or something... but he truly meant to disregard death.

As our gazed were held, Frost put his foot down. No regrets. It seemed to be a theme here... I remembered how I thought Ink had died the day she lost her mind to the poison even though her heart didn't stop beating until three days later... Could it be that Frost died ever so long ago too? Or perhaps, I could save him... Maybe that little boy in the picture did still exist.

"Let's get Subject 62 and get out of here," Frost said while turning away to the door. He didn't even flinch as he stepped over the bodies of the scientists. I stumbled behind him, now more anxious than ever to leave. As we made it out of the classroom, Frost led the way to the lab where our cage was located. When we walked, our footprints were left behind in blood that would always stain the normally perfect floors. I never dared to turn around, for fear that the scientists would be there again, with severe punishment for killing them.


	6. Chapter 6: Welcome to the Other Side

_Author's Note: Hello World! So please enjoy this chapter and yeah. Don't forget to tell me how you feel and stuff in a review or whatever. I'm here to learn! I'm open to suggestions so don't be shy! Thank you world! =^_^=_

"I'll get Subject 62," I stated as I tried to shake off all my fears. "You look for an exit and we'll meet back here once we've found what we're looking for."

The corner of Frost's mouth twitched with annoyance at being told what to do. "Why don't we just blast the ceiling until we see light?" he said with a trace of scorn.

"We could be miles under. If we're too far under, we might risk having this place cave in," I replied trying to force the edge out of my voice.

"Why are you acting like this?" Frost growled. "It's annoying."

"Acting like what? Acting like a human being who values life?" I challenged with a deriding tone.

Frost threw his arms up in the air. "Here we go again with this humanity crap! What are you talking about!"

I knitted my eyebrows together in frustration. "Just find an exit."

Frost heaved a sigh of exasperation and stalked down the hallway with an unpleasant vibe emitting from him the whole way. How could he not understand how... how... _evil_ he was being! Rage and fear caused me to tense my muscles in an attempt to release some of this anxiety. Without even realizing I was doing it, I was releasing my fire. It erupted into a wall around me and burned as fierce of the sun as it mirrored my emotions. I gasped in surprise and stared in awe at my fire. All my anxiety melted away and the second I was calm again, the flame was stultified.

I was beginning to pick up a pattern here. Overwhelming emotions ripped my control away from me. Pain also seemed to do the trick. I was never in excruciating pain until after I gained all my fire abilities and as for emotions... I just never put much thought towards how I felt before. I felt so exposed now that I knew how easily control over myself could be taken away from me. Of course, nothing as changed. I was always like this; I just never realized it before.

As I cast one more look in the direction Frost went, I felt only hollow. My fire burned away all my emotions for now in an attempt to keep me focused on the task at hand. It was up to me to save Subject 62. I made my way down the hall that Mary led us through moments before. I traced my steps until I stood in front of the vault-like door that I spent so long trapped by. I ignited my fist into flames and pulled my arm back like an arrow. Using every force of strength I had, I threw a solid punch at the door with so much power that my body shuddered from the burst of strength.

My fist made a large indent in the wall but it didn't burst threw. I hurled my weight towards the door and focused so much energy to my fist of fire that the flame exploded to white flames. The metal of the door began to pool at my feet as my fire melted it away. The door gave way and I stumbled through the hole in the door I created. The sent of the charred materials hit the roof of my mouth and made me gag. I gave a short cough and tried to sooth my burning fire. It gave a few shaky flares before finally puffing out.

Slowly, I turned around to the door and took in the destruction I could bring. The heavy metal door that I was so intimidated by for so long was reduced to a pool of already hardening metal. I did that. A small smile of satisfaction crossed my face as I turned to the back of the room where the oh-to-familiar cage stood.

And there it stood... There was nothing out of the ordinary about it. My cage was about 10 feet wide and 6 and a half feet tall and the floor was littered with white tick marks that counted down the days that had passed since Doomsday. The little white piece of chalk was sheltered in the corner of the cage where I always left it. The bars remained as intimidating as ever, forever committing the reprehensible act of holding me there. But I was free now. And the small figure that lay asleep in the corner was soon to be free too. Subject 62.

He was curled up in a ball in the back of the cage where he had been since the day he arrived a week ago. The clothing he wore was ragged and torn. He was wearing sport shorts that were black and baggy with two blue lines running down either side. His shirt was blue too, like the sky. Those cloths must have been what he came here wearing. The thought never crossed my mind until now. His short blond hair was matted with dirt and dried blood that was probably his. Chunks of his clothing were torn apart and even the right sleeve was completely severed. He was exactly as he came. Never speaking. Never smiling. Never moving.

Carefully, I took a step towards the cage. For some reason, I was afraid to go over to him wake him up. I was afraid of what he might say, I guess. But that's so stupid. He hasn't moved in a week. Maybe that's not what I was afraid of. The endless drone of the lights seemed to be louder than thunder.

Another couple of steps closer... He still hasn't moved. _I wonder what he's dreaming about... _I shook my head. This was no time to be distracted. I pushed myself on for another five steps. I was only about a foot away from the cage. I couldn't explain it, but my heart was pounding. _What am I so afraid of? _I just took a deep breath to try to sooth myself. For my brief moment of calmness, I ushered myself over to the cage.

I never took my eyes off of little Subject 62's sleeping figure. I didn't want to blast the cage to the heavens with him in it in case I burned him. I reached out to clutch the bars of the cage as I knelt down to crouch on my knees. I took a deep breath as I racked my brains trying to come one with a way to wake him up. _Wait... Why don't I just call him? Wow, I feel stupid._

I opened my mouth to call out to him when my words were caught in my throat. What should I call him? Subject 62? It doesn't seem right to do so, but at this point, whatever. "62!" I called like I was calling a pet or something. "Wake up, Subject 62!"

No response... I wasn't very surprised though. Even when Frost and I are in the cage he never moves. I guess I'd have to go in there... I looked over at the lock on the door of the cage. That seemed to be easy enough to melt. I rose to me feet and stepped to the lock. It was a simple pad lock that held together the chains that coiled around the door that also had three latches.

Without even thinking about it, I took the lock in my hand. I felt the fire in my hand heat up to dangerous temperatures. The lock soon felt like clay in my hand and I pulled it away with ease. I tossed the liquid lock on the ground behind me and it splattered like putty over the white floor. It disgust, I whipped the excess metal on my shorts as I tried to get it off although the silver tint remained on my hand.

Without much delicacy, I began to uncoil the chains that sizzled when my burning hand touched their surface. I pulled the rusted chain away from the door and tossed it aside, ignoring the clanking noise of the metal. I pulled the door open by the bars and crept inside. I didn't close the door behind me; I was afraid to be alone with Subject 62 for some reason.

I tiptoed over to Subject 62 as I tried to suppress my instincts that screeched to get away. I was standing right above his small body. I took in the features of his face... Young, baby-like, innocent. He had a small nose and colorless cheeks. Underneath his shirt, I could see his ribs that portrayed his emancipated body. I reached out to touch his shoulder to wake him up.

An inch away from his shoulder, I stopped myself. I rancid smell hit the roof of my mouth making me gag. I recognized the smell immediately. When Frost and I were out in the artificial woods one day, we came across a dead starly. I think they placed it there on purpose, to frighten us and remind us that life does indeed end. Like we hadn't known that already... The smell of the starly stayed with me though. The sent of something decaying... The sent of death.

That's when I understood why I was so afraid to touch Subject 62. I pulled my hand back and went ridged. Panic flared in my chest and the sound of burning air played around me. I trembled in fear of the truth. Terror in the form of white mist crept into my eyes as my fire burned so intensely I couldn't see through the flames. Guilt roared in my mind at how I let another subject die. Subconsciously, I knew he was dead, but I refused to acknowledge the fact.

My legs went numb and I fell to my knees. Sobs racked my body but all my tears evaporated the moment they touched my cheeks. I wanted my fire to just consume me, burn me, kill me. I wanted to die, to forget all of this miserable pain. What good is this freedom if I can't even safe this one boy!

What difference does it make? I've been robbed of my memories, wasted 11 years of life in this hell, been genetically altered, seen many lives end, Frost has gone evil, Subject 62 is dead, and we're trapped underground. Suddenly, I felt hallow. My fire mirrored my emotions and with this sudden apathy, my fire ceased to a warm crackle.

In front of me, there was a pile of ashes. My fire had burned so out of control and it destroyed Subject 62's already lifeless body. I was grateful for it. I didn't have to look at him anymore. Slowly, I rose to my feet. I looked up to see a hole in the cage above me. I guess I burned a hole right through the top. Most of the cage was melting actually. I didn't even have to walk through the door; but I did. I guess that was my way of pretending all that didn't just happen.

For some reason, I was calm. Scary calm. 'Calm before a storm' kind of calm. But I welcomed it. It was better than the intense sorrow over Subject 62. I couldn't help but wonder why I cared so much. I didn't even know him. Maybe it was because he reminded me of Ink or because I was furious that he died right before he was to be free. I understood Frost better now. He didn't feel bad killing the scientists because they didn't feel bad killing us.

"Hey Scarlet!" Frost called as ran over to the vault-like door. His eyes stretched wide when he beheld the room. I could see him through the hole I burned through the door. In awe, he stepped through it and surveyed the damage of the melting room. "Holy crap, Scarlet... What happened in here?"

"It doesn't matter," I said.

Frost gave me a quizzical look. He tried to look behind me as he searched for something, or someone. "Where's Subject 62?"

"Dead." I walked past Frost and stepped through the hole in the door. When Frost didn't follow me, I turned around to face him. "Aren't you coming? Did you find a way out?"

Uncertainty flickered across his face. "Scarlet, you feeling ok?"

"Never better," I said with a devilish smile. "You want to know why, Frost?" I didn't wait for him to answer. "Because they crossed the line a long time ago, and now, I've come to realize that by pan-searing them until their blood evaporated, I've also crossed the line. But that's ok, because it's kill or be killed in this world."

Frost nodded in solemn agreement. We held each other's gazes another moment before Frost decided to speak. "Welcome to the other side."


	7. Chapter 7: Freedom and Beginnings

_Author's Note: I just wanted to say... Thank you SpiralSpinda! You know what I mean! Anyway, I know I haven't updated in a while, but I've been working on my other story. I should try to balance more. Tee-Hee! THANK YOU WORLD! =^_^=_

"I am sick to death of this place..." I muttered. Finding a way out was proving to be a bit of a challenge as this hell was sealed off from the eyes of the rest of the world. I have lived here for what I can remember of my life, and now I can't even find a freaking door. We searched through every steel, bullet proof door in every sterile, metallic hallway, taking turns breaking through their locks. None of them were a successful passage though as most of them were rooms with a ton of supplies. We found everything from clothing to syringes.

"I don't think I've ever used my powers for this long without a break before," Frost remarked. "I'm getting pretty tired."

I hardly heard a word he said. Excitement to see the outside was ushering me along this path and I had no intention of stopping. "Do you think the way out could be in the artificial habitat?"

"I don't know," Frost said in the middle of a yawn. "Try it and find out."

As I mentioned before, there is an area here that is an artificial habitat. The only reason the habitat was there was for Frost and me to have room to run around and practice hunting. It kept us fit. It was very forest-like but there was also a huge body of water around the habitat but I've never gone in it. I asked one of the scientists before what was beyond the island, but they only told me it was nothing but an illusion set up around the island. The water wasn't real. It was just a huge photo around us to stimulate an environment. One time, I went up to the edge of the habitat and I even put my hand against the picture; it was cold as glass.

"Alright," I nodded. "Then let's go!" I led the way to the entrance of the habitat which was imprinted in my memory. To get there, Frost and I made our way through the maze of twisting hallways truly led to an obscure end. We came to the foot of the stairs that led up to the habitat.

"It feels weird going up here without a scientist," Frost murmured as he stared at the bottom step. Our eyes followed the stairs all the way up to the top, and before I realized it, I was running up the stairs with Frost hot on my heels. I shouldered my way through the cellar door and burst into the light. The cellar door opened up to another little room that was referred to by the scientists as the P2 Laboratory. It was even written on the bottom of one of the open cellar doors which now lay limply on the ground making the gaping hole in the ground obvious.

An array of plain gray tiles covered the floor which was slightly in contrast to the sleek white of the floors in my section of the lab. The walls were also a few shades darker than the ones downstairs but these ones were clearly yellowed with age. The room was littered with wires of all colors but most of them were no longer charged with electricity. In fact, the room was so cluttered that when I opened the cellar door, a cluster of wires were shoved aside as they appeared to be covering the door. The door was blended in very well and it's a miracle it wasn't locked; not that it would've mattered. It was probably unlocked because the door was so well hidden that no one from the outside would've noticed it. I never recall it ever being locked before.

Just for the hell of it, Frost kicked a nearby box at full force and the cardboard that was weak with age burst open like it was nothing. The contents of the box were splayed on the ground in an array of papers with countless words I would never bother to read. A smile crossed his face. "Feels pretty good to bust up their crap."

"Let's find a way out; then we can burn this place to the ground," I said with a sinister smile. "How to we even get to the habitat from here?"

"Try the door dumbass," Frost sneered with a bit more cruelty than I think he intended, but he didn't say anything about it. He was pointing directly to the creaky blue door on the other side of the room. Rust coated the hinges, and for the first time, a peculiar thought crossed my mind.

"Don't you think this place is sort of weird?" I remarked. When Frost questioned my intent, I replied, "It's just that everything downstairs is so clean and perfect while this place is a dump. Also, we went up stairs to get here..."

Realization stretched Frost's eyes wide and he struggled to put his thoughts into words. "Y-You don't actually think that..."

There was no need for him to finish his sentence. I knew what he was going to say. I nodded unable to contain my excitement at seeing the outside world. "I think so!"

"Then why in Arceus's name are we still standing here!" Frost exulted. We both abandoned the cluttered P2 Laboratory and practically shoved each other through the doorway. I could almost feel the sun warming my face. The sun I never saw. We both exploded into the habitat and the luminous... darkness was only there to greet us. Some artificial light from the lab managed to slip into the scene but it was only enough for me to see the outlines of a couple trees and some grass. I looked up to the sky, but there was only darkness. There was no moon, stars, or anything; just as I expected.

The 'illusion' around the habitat was really just a dome covering a real island. Making a real habitat underground would've been very expensive and this place was clearly deserted. No outsiders would come by and they had us living in such fear, we never would've tried to break the glass before. When I realized we ran up stairs and were no longer underground, everything became clear. If Frost and I broke through the dome, we'd be free.

I put my hand out and my palm ignited into flames. The fire cast light all around the dome and the awkward round shape the dome had made the light bounce back to me at odd angles just proving my theory. "I can't believe that after all this time... we never saw this was a fake before."

"Less talk, more DESTROY!" Frost roared as twenty ice spears materialized at his will. He hurled them all to one of the walls of the dome at once but the moment they hit the dome, they shattered like they were made of glass and clattered helplessly to the ground. I shinned the fire over to the spot where the ice hit and hardly a scratch stained the surface.

"Wow," I scoffed. "That clearly did a lot of damage."

"Shut up!" Frost snapped. "If you're so perfect, then you try."

"I will," I smiled and strode past Frost with an air of mock superiority. I faced the round edge of the dome which was a convincing picture of an ocean. In my mind's eye, I saw myself releasing a column of fire obliterating the dome. I allowed my fire to burn for a while before full on releasing it. I thought I'd be fancy and try to exhale fire in an impressive flamethrower.

I kept the flamethrower burning for about 30 seconds before I had to break off. What I saw in my target's spot was pathetic. A little blackened, but nowhere near shattering. "What!" I exclaimed. "I thought I was pretty good!"

"Ha!" Frost's tone was smug now that he had his dignity back. "No so easy now; is it?"

"Aww, shut up!" I barked. "I still did more damage than you!"

"I weakened it for you!" Frost countered.

I took a deep breath in exasperation and when I exhaled, I unintentionally let out a little puff of smoke. "Let's just work together to get out of this hell."

Frost rolled his eyes in irritation. "You really think you're all high and mighty, don't you?"

"I do not! What are you taking about?" I said.

"You always think you have to be the better person, or something. It's annoying. 'Oh, we killed all these people! We are such bad people!' or 'Oh, we have to work together!' This isn't an after school special, so knock off the crap," Frost ended his argument with a sharp glare.

"I do _not_ talk like that!" I growled. "And for the record, I wouldn't have to be the bigger person all the time if you had any freaking values! 'Oh, I killed all these people but it's OK to kill because I don't feel bad about it!'"

"At least I'm not some hippie going on about peace!" Frost snarled. "I live in our world and everything it is right now!"

"But you have the power to make it better!" I argued. "Why would you accept something you have the power to change for the better!"

"Scarlet," Frost suddenly seemed taken aback as though my response truly surprised him. All of his anger melted away, and now, he only seemed exasperated, even pitiful towards me. "We don't have the power to change anything. This world is how it is and that's the end of it. Things suck and people die and sometimes we have to kill them. We have to survive and this living-without-regret is how to do it. We can't change things, so might as well go along with them."

Tears welled up in my eyes for some reason. "T-That's horrible..." my voice began to fail me as a large lump formed in my throat, threatening to choke me and take away my voice.

"I know," Frost shrugged, "but that's how it is."

For a while, silence hung heavily in the air. I took me a moment to find the courage and resolve to speak. "No."

"What?" Frost seemed mildly surprised I rejected it.

"No," I repeated, this time a little louder. "I refuse to accept that. That can't be true. It isn't true. I understand that I've crossed the line, and that we are capable of mass destruction, but I chose not to live like that. I'm going to make you see, Frost, that the world isn't like that. It just can't be."

"You're only making things harder for yourself," Frost said. He seemed to feel sorry for me.

"I don't care. Even if I am, then... well then so what?" I smiled to myself. "Even in all this darkness... I promise to always be light."

"Yeah, whatever." Frost clearly lost all interest in this conversation and turned his attention to the dome. "Let's just forget this for now. I just want to get out of here." Frost lazily strolled over to the edge of the dome which wasn't too far from the exit of the P2 Laboratory. He placed his hand on the dome as he went through a million ways to break through the dome in his mind.

On the other hand, I surveyed the area. It was about 70 feet in diameter and about 25 feet high at its highest point in the middle. Was there any way out? I was looking for some sort of electrical system or something that I could break that would be a lock of something... but I found none. The dome was just... well, a gigantic dome. I stared at the black sky. But I noticed... it wasn't solidly black.

The sky wasn't black, it was a navy hue. There were faint white dots that spotted the sky that would twinkle but always return. They were... stars. How could I have not noticed them before! Actually, I remember learning about anatomy. When you step from darkness to light, your eyes must dilate to let in the proper amount of light to match your surroundings to give you the best vision. When I stepped out of the P2 Laboratory's bright, artificial lighting, my eyes needed to adjust to the subtleness of the nighttime so I couldn't see the stars. Now that my eyes have adjusted, the stars were mine to see.

My eyes went to the ocean. In the darkness, I had to squint to see, but I saw that the waves of the ocean lapped at the rocky cliffs of the island. I saw them moving, even though this dome was allegedly a picture. It wasn't a picture though... it was a giant window.

"Frost!" I called to him. I ran over and explained my recent discovery to him and he seemed not to care.

"It doesn't make any difference though, right?" Frost said.

"It proves that there's something after this though!" I smiled with ecstasy. "Frost! They way out is so close!" I squeezed my eyes shut and did a little dance because I couldn't contain my joy. I stomped by feet on the ground and squealed in delight. "We are so CLOSE!"

"We aren't there yet," Frost reminded me, but I hardly heard him.

"What do you think a sunrise looks like?" I wondered out loud with a grin on my face. "Oh! And a sunset! And a rainbow! Or lightning! Lightning it my favorite. I want to see it so badly!"

"Help me bust this up," Frost said, "and you will."

Following my excitement, my fire was burning intensely. "No problem!" I assured him with a thumbs-up. My sudden enthusiasm even surprised me, but I didn't care. As long as I was free. I dashed to the center of the dome and ignored Frost calling out to me. I was going to hit the dome at its weakest point; the center.

I aligned myself up with the middle of the dome and planted my feet firmly in the dusty ground. _Not long now..._ I rubbed my hands together and watched the smoke begin to waft off my hands and all over my body. I closed my eyes and allowed it to prepare. My short scarlet hair began to drift in the warm breeze my fire was creating and even through my closed eyelids I could see the light I was creating. _Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom..._ I said the world over and over in my mind. It was unlike other words; no matter how many times you say it, it never seems to loose its meaning.

Raising both hands to the center of the dome, I slowly turned my head backwards to look up to the sky. My eyes whipped open and the second they opened, my body erupted like a volcano. A huge column of fire burst from my body and was hurled at the glass with enough speed to beat light in a race. It slammed into the center and the second it hit, I heard a satisfying crack. Through the fire, I saw my hands, outlined against the reddish flames. I concentrated all my energy on the fire. In my mind's eye, over and over again, I kept seeing myself finally break through the glass. The sound of cracking filled the air once more as cracks finally began to cloak the glass until the cracks appeared to me as faults etched deep in the glass.

Without warning, my legs gave out on me as my body just crumbled under extreme exhaustion. I hadn't realized I was so close to my breaking point. My fire died like it was doused with a tsunami and I suddenly collapsed to the ground. I landed hard on my knees and found myself crouching on the ground unable to move. All around me, the sound of cracking echoed as it bounced off the walls and back to me. Following the sound of cracking, came the sound of shattering. The dome began to cave in from the damage I was able to deal. All of my instincts told me to run and duck for cover, but I was unable to move.

Crouching lower to the ground, I left my back exposed to the sky so if anything hit me, it would hit my back. As glass began to fall like a series of knives around me, I winced as each one would land beside me or in front of me always expecting the next one to land on me. The sound of shattering clashed with a sound that I couldn't identify but it reminded me of the drone of the lights by my cage. The glass fell for what seemed to be forever, but after the last one fell, I realized none had landed on me.

Finding the ability to move slowly returned to my limbs, I was able to straighten up. I was breathing incredibly heavy and sweating even though I never felt hot. Slowly, I tried to get to my feet, only to find I had a pounding headache. I struggled to make sense of my surroundings and I found myself looking to the sky. The real sky, uncovered in all its glory. _I'm free now! Thank Arceus! Wait a second- Frost!_

I whirled around to the spot where Frost was standing, but I did so a little too quickly and black spots began spotting the outskirts of my vision. I felt myself swaying when I tried to stand still. I squinted in the direction Frost was and I found him just outside of the area where the dome ended. I was relieved to see he was unhurt, but he was standing with a few people I've never seen before. There were four of them standing with him, all of them looking at me in shock; including Frost. One of them was walking towards me. A boy.

Out of instinct, I took a step away from him. There was that, and I was a little dizzy so my judgment wasn't so great. He continued to approach me though. "Wait up!" he called to me. His voice was a little high but it was cute. He seemed like he didn't want to do me any harm, so I stayed.

When he approached me, I took in all his features. This boy seemed to be about 17. He was taller than me, but he seemed to be slightly shorter than Frost. His hair was electric blonde like it was created from lightning. It was tussled and messy but it wasn't like he never washed it. It was short but it wasn't like a buzz cut or anything but its imperfect nature made it look better. His eyes were electric green and were twinkled with joy. His expression was sort of apologetic for scaring me, but was also like he was dying to meet me.

This boy wore a red bandana tied around his head. It was under his hair and some stray strands of his choppy bangs curtained over the bandana. It was tied neatly in the back of his head and wasn't overly long. On his right ear, I noticed the twinkle of a green piece of metal that looped through the top part of his ear. The clothing he wore was simple, like mine. He had black cargo shorts much like Frost's but his shirt was a simple red t-shirt. His shoes were simple white and black sneakers. "I'm Note!" he said with a smile. He held out his hand. "It's great to meet you!"

I looked at his hand for a moment, unsure of what he wanted. "I don't have anything to give you," I said apologetically as I looked at his hand.

"What?" Note tilted his head to the side. His eyes flickered to his hand before he looked back at me but it still took him a moment to understand. "Oh, I wasn't asking for anything. It's a handshake. When you meet people, you shake their hand!"

I held out my hand this time with a smile. "Nice to meet you! My name is Scarlet."

Note smiled and shook my hand. "You learn fast! Anyway, Scarlet, how would you like to join the Resistance? Our name changes all the time, but right now it's the Resistance. Boulder, our leader, can never make up his mind. For a while it was Rock Blasters, which was my least favorite."

"What are you talking about?" it was my turn to tilt my head in confusion. "The Resistance?"

"Right!" Note confirmed. "All of us have been genetically altered by the scientists to be pokemon types. Every so often, we find another lab and bust them up and rescue a couple more recruits. There are 16 members now; not including you and that other guy. Then again... almost everyone has a pokemon, but not counting them, sorry Swift, there's 16 members. Boulder started the Resistance back when he broke out of his lab. Since then, he's freed many others and now we're looking for why we were created and who we are. Before anyone is brought into the lab, their memories are whipped. So my name isn't truly Note. I'm actually called that because I am pretty musical."

"Wow," I said in awe. "That sounds really amazing... So, you're an electric type, right?" I asked. Predominantly, I could tell by his hair color.

"Yes, and you're a fire type," Note smiled. "That was quite an amazing display you put on earlier. You're super powerful! You just took down that glass in a sweep of fire! Your friend over there even seemed shocked at how amazing you are! Actually, that's how we found you. We knew there was a lab around here, but we couldn't locate it. Your fire was like a beacon of light in the darkness and it was a snap to find you!"

I could feel my cheeks redden at the compliment. "Wait!" I straightened up. "That was you! You were zapping all the glass before it fell on me, weren't you? I heard the noise, but I couldn't tell was it was and I wasn't about to look up."

"Haha!" Note laughed. "I didn't want to toot my own horn, but yeah. Wow! Pretty, smart, and powerful! The Resistance would be lucky to have you around!"

At this, I really didn't know what to say. I've never been praised so much before and it felt pretty strange but I liked it. I wasn't object to joining the Resistance, considering I had no where else to go... Not to mention that his boy, Note, was just like me and Frost. He was an electric type. They went around saving those who were trapped by the scientists and discover why we were created. Sounds perfect.

"Well, Note," I smiled. "Today's your lucky day, because I'm officially joining the Resistance!"


	8. Chapter 8: An Unexpected Turn

_Author's Note: School is so close to being let out... I haven't been able to update much because of finals and junk, and it still isn't over. This chapter is rather short but in my absence I have developed a ton of the plot. Anyway... THANK YOU WORLD! =^_^=_

It was finally over... I was free. Not until Note lead me away, out of the area the dome covered, and over to the land just beyond the lab, did it hit me. 11 years of my life were spent at that place, and I found it difficult to accept that it was over. Frost and I didn't plan our escape or anything. There were no nights where I dreamt about leaving, no anticipation overwhelming me every day, no extensive plotting, I woke up today not even expecting it to come to this; it just happened. It was bound to happen though. I suppose it was better it ended this way. If we plotted, our tactic certainly wouldn't have involved so much death, I would've made sure of that, but maybe we wouldn't have made it. They had kept us under such close surveillance, they would've noticed. But we were free; that's all that mattered.

"Ok!" Note smiled at his colleges. He turned to me with a happy smile on his face. "This is Scarlet, the newest member of the Resistance!"

There were two unfamiliar faces looking at me. There was a girl who had her arms folded. She looked younger and I would place her to be about 17. Her long, deep blue hair flowed like a wave behind her that reached all the way down to the small of her back. Her grayish brown eyes were lit up with smug curiosity, like I was some sort of new toy for her to play with. Her sky blue bandana was around her neck like a scarf which looked good against her deep green dress. She had a deep blue belt around her waist that matched her hair and her brown boots seemed to go well with her eyes. This girl was pretty and slim, but she looked tough.

The second person I hadn't known intimidated me. He seemed to be about 20, and he was staring at me with seemingly unseeing eyes. They were so dark, I couldn't tell where the iris left off and where the pupil began. His hair was a black mess that was cropped close to his head and was choppy like he cut it himself with safety scissors. A creepy smile was plastered on his face as he looked at me, and I broke off our eye contact. As I turned away, I caught a glimpse of his green bandana tied around his neck like a noose rather than a scarf.

"Um, hello everyone," I sheepishly said with a small wave.

"What is he talking about, Scarlet?" Frost's eyebrows were raised in a question. A flicker of annoyance passed through his eyes.

"It's the Resistance," the girl with blue hair responded before I had a chance too. "We're typed, like you two. All of us free ones have banned together to take down other labs and look for the reason behind our creation."

The creepy boy with the noose for a bandana chimed in with a wide grin. "We will one day find those people who created us then we can _dominate the world_! It will be perfect; once all the scientists are dead where they stand." I stole a look at Note shooting him a question about this boy's behavior. He didn't seriously intent to kill all the scientists, right?

"We won't be killing all the scientists," Note said in a firm voice that was directed at the boy. "Don't say things like that."

"You've always been spineless, haven't you Note?" the boy almost spat with sudden antipathy. "Stop trying to be so chivalrous all the time; it's annoying as hell. Besides, I can hear a multitude of recently released souls right now anyway." The boy's eyes landed on Frost and I. "These recruits show a bit of promise." His eyes flickered like soft candles from Frost to me. "The girl has more worth though it seems... Most of the souls are willing vengeance on her."

The girl with the deep blue hair took a step forward, almost shoving the creepy boy out of the way. A sick feeling of guilt clutched onto my stomach as I felt my own soul cross back over to the other side. "What is your name, fire type?" Her deep gray eyes were illuminated with question as she was stacking up my worth.

"Scarlet," I said, keeping my voice steady. Odd feelings of foreboding hung over my head as the conversation plunged into an unexpected turn. "Might I ask yours?"

"Aquarius," she said while gesturing to herself.

"Lightless," the boy who wore his bandana like a noose interrupted.

"Note!" Note smiled even though it was clear he was uncomfortable with the sudden dark twist the encounter had taken. He gave an attempted smile and I admired his ability to keep cheery.

Aquarius and Lightless were both looking at Frost who I noticed had his fists clenched at his sides. The feeling of foreboding grew stronger than before and I suddenly became aware of the movement of the clouds above us for some reason. "Frost," Frost spoke his name through clenched teeth. I looked over at him and tried to make eye contact, but he wouldn't catch my eye.

While I was looking at Frost, I felt an arm around my body. It pressed me closer against another body as it hugged me tight. Before I knew what was going on, I felt the owner of the hand lean most of their weight on me. My gaze snapped to my side and the ominous face of Lightless was only two inches from my face. I was close enough to spit, if I wanted to. His seemingly sightless black eyes were locked on my own and his voice reached my ears in a whisper. "Hey babe, you'll be my queen right?"

His sly voice sent a shiver up my spine and in response I tried to take a step back but he pulled me closer. I felt my hand twitch in fear and I tried to cough a flamethrower in his face but only a puff of smoke came out: my fire was weak after the massive attack I released. I tried to shove him off me, but I was still weak. "G-get off of me!"

"Lightless, stop-" Aquarius snapped but she was cut off as an icy wall slammed into Lightless' body, hurling him to the dusty ground. He landed with a thud, and cloud of dirt just barely visible in the faint moonlight appeared. The wall of ice shattered like glass and evaporated into nothingness now that its purpose was served. I heard a little cough from the disheveled boy as I tore my eyes away.

I straightened up and looked over to Frost whose eyes were narrowed in disgust. "Don't you _dare _touch her," he growled with a fury I hadn't expected over such a misdemeanor.

Lightless clearly didn't recognize Frost's seriousness, because he rose to his feet and casually strode over to Frost and stood barely an inch away from his face. "I'll admit- you caught me off guard. Didn't mean to make you jealous. She you're gal or somthin', Frosty?"

_You're gal? What does that even mean? _The question flashed through my mind. _Is he referring to me?_ I took a step forward but I felt the light pressure of a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Note, whose eyes warned me not to go any closer, and reluctance suddenly held me back. I returned a look that said _why?_ Note only lowered his hand in response but never took the look of warning out of his eyes.

"Don't call me that," Frost narrowed his eyes even further and I saw a vein protruding from his neck when I dared to turn around. A tingle shot through my body carrying news of premonition and I shuddered.

"What's the matter?" Lightless sneered as he skulked over to Frost. For a boy of darkness, he seemed to move fast, like light. "Fighting back is hard, isn't it? When anger is chocking you, that is."

Rage hot enough to melt Frost's ice surged through his eyes. The air around us began to crackle like bubble rap as it began to cling as frost to the area around us. Heat quickly drained around the area and soon I found myself shivering. "Frost!" I cried over the sound of freezing atmosphere, fighting a sudden surge of anxiety. "Stop it!"

Lightless's expression of scorn quickly turned to one of delight as he took a step back. He raised his hands in mock apology and put a wide artificial sheepish grin on his face. "Chill out man!" Lightless snickered to himself. "Or should I say 'heat up' instead?"

That pushed Frost over the edge. Ice erupted out of the dusty ground and quickly took hold of Lightless's body all the way up to his neck. A jagged ice cocoon had him locked in place, allowing him only turn his head from side to side. Moonlight reflected off the ice's surface giving the ice prison a soft silver gleam, and Lightless finally realized what he had done. I heard myself suck in a sharp breath of air in surprise, and beside me, so did Note. When I looked at Frost, I barely recognized him. His face was distorted with rage and humiliation and the swirling air around his was whiter than fresh snow. The light had left his eyes as some inner beast had awoken and forced Frost's consciousness out of the way. I recognized that look; I had seen it in the lab as he slaughtered the scientists with me.

"Stop it man!" Lightless said, his eyes wide with shock. "Can't you take a freaking joke!"

But Frost hadn't heard him. The air around him began to seethe as it began to take form, and Frost's red eyes suddenly seemed... evil to me. "Frost!" I screeched. "Let him go!" I took a step forward to reach him, but Note's hand grabbed me by the collar and pulled me back.

"Are you crazy!" Note hissed. "Do you have a death wish or something!"

"I can't just do nothing!" I said, finding agitation was making me seethe myself.

"You're powers are still weak; you cannot do any-" Note's voice was cut off by a sound that resembled thunder. I looked past him just in time to see a menacing, deep blue blade of ice just behind Frost. The tip was pointed straight at Lightless's heart but was slowly, rearing back like an arrow being drawn back by an archer with a bow.

Without thinking, I shoved past Note, and threw myself in front of Lightless with my arms outstretched. Before me stood Frost and his blade of ice that was now pointing at my heart. _Frost'll see me; he'll recognize me, and stop this madness. _I saw the twitch in Frost's finger out of the corner of my eye and the blade hurled itself towards me. _Frost would never hurt me. Never in a million years. _A weak wall of fire erupted around me as a natural defense mechanism, but it I still saw the blade approaching me through the flames. _He would never..._ The last thing I heard before I blacked out was Note screaming...

_SCARLET!_


	9. Chapter 9: The Right to Take a Life

_Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long gap between updates, but I'm moving from New Jersey to Ireland in less than two weeks so it's obvious things have been hectic. Anyway, personal matters aside, this is the newest chapter! Hope you enjoy world, and thank you for your support. THANK YOU WORLD! =^_^=_

A chilling unconsciousness held me in its clutches. Voices were swimming into focus around me as the droning background noise began to filter out as my mind finally cleared up. I suddenly became aware of a strong light that I could see as a flash of red through my closed eyelids and I shifted in uncomfort. My eyes fluttered open and I heard a small gasp beside me. For a moment, all I saw was a blurry splash of yellow with two spots of green visible through my foggy eyesight. Just behind it, I could make out the faded brown of old wood.

I blinked several times and allowed my eyes to focus and the concerned face of Note was soon clear as daylight to me. His glittering green eyes were narrowed in concern and his yellow hair was draped like a curtain around his face as he looked down. His lips were a tight white line as he held them in tight concern. When he saw my eyes fully alert though, his expression seemed to soften.

"Hey Scarlet," Note offered me a gentle smile. He heaved a sigh of relief as he slowly sat down in a wooden stool that was next to me. Slowly, I began to sit up, but fabric rubbed against my skin and I jumped in surprise and looked down to see white blankets were wrapped around my body. There was a comfortable yet rough material under my body though and I pulled the blankets back to see a rod like pale yellow substance underneath me.

"It's just straw," Note said when he noticed my confusion. "I know it's not a real bed or anything, but we don't have those. They're pretty comfy though."

"Where the hell am I?" I whispered although I wasn't sure if it was directed towards myself or Note. "What happened? All I remember was... _Frost_," I found myself hurling resentment into that word and it surprised me.

"We're at the Resistance's main building. Have you ever seen a map of the Unova region? Well, it's located on the land just north of the Entralink. I'll show you a map later, but we were all the way over by NuvemaTown when we found you." Note leaned back in his chair and reached his hands up to stretch. "As for what happened," he sat back down and looked me dead in the eyes, "you decided to be an ass and uselessly risk your life."

"What!" I protested. "If I didn't do anything, Frost would've killed that-that creepy kid! Lightless or whatever!"

"Do you really think we'd have let that happen?" Note's voice was eerily calm as he refused to break our eye contact. "Aquarius and I were right there; we'd have stopped him. In fact, we did. Frost was about to kill you as well." Note pointed to my chest and my eyes followed his point.

My large white T-shirt had a hole the size of my fist just by my heart. White bandages were wrapped around my chest numerous times over to cover the wound but there was still a faint tint of red in the bandages where my blood seeped through. "Frost..." I whispered in utter disbelief. "H-he..."

"He did that to you," Note nodded but not unkindly. "The cut didn't really go that deep and it was wider more than anything. Echo, our doctor, did a really good job of fixing you up too. The only reason you passed out was because right before you were stabbed, you sent off a burst of flames that drained your remaining energy. It was predominantly exhaustion that made you pass out."

"Was the wall of fire really that powerful?" I asked. "It seemed pretty weak to me at the time."

"Do you know what abilities are?" Note asked and when I nodded he continued. "It seems the ability blaze was activated at the time so that's why you could release a lot of fire. It probably seemed weak to you because you were weak. It was actually pretty powerful. I also sent in a bolt of lightning to intercept the icicle blade too though, and that helped out."

There was a silence between us for a moment before I finally spoke. "Where's Frost?"

Note took a deep breath and moved his attention to the ceiling and leaned backwards. I found a sudden interest in the blankets and I began fidgeting with them. I always fidget when I'm nervous, and apparently, so did Note. I could hear his foot tapping on the ground like there was a song running through his mind that I could not hear. His reluctance to answer me didn't go unnoticed. "Where's Frost?" I asked again, a little more stern than before.

"He left," was all Note said. I still didn't look up from the blankets. I could sense that the answer to that question was going to hurt.

"Where?" I answered.

"I don't know," Note replied. The tapping grew faster and I wondered if he changed songs or if he just picked up the tempo to match his heartbeat.

"Why?" I found my voice growing more forceful and I pressed him.

"He didn't believe in the Resistance, and he didn't want to hurt you anymore." Note's tapping stopped and so did my fidgeting. "He cried."

"He cried?" I echoed. "Frost _cried_?" I have been with him for as long as I can remember, and he almost never cried.

I heard the sound of the stool resting on the wooden floors of the building as Note stopped leaning back on his chair. I looked up from the blankets and found my eyes locked with Note's. "Yes," Note concurred. "After you screamed-"

"I screamed?" I interrupted.

"Yes, you did," Note nodded. "Anyway, once you screamed, Frost finally, like, woke up, you know? He... he saw you lying there with blood on your chest and shards of ice scattered around you. I was really afraid too, and so was Aquarius. I wasn't sure if my lightning intercepted the blade in time and I wasn't sure if you were ok. Even Lightless had nothing to say... Well, Frost fell to his knees on the ground and began sobbing like a maniac. Not one of those cries where a few tears come out, but like he couldn't breathe because of his sobs.

It was really pitiful actually, and all I could do was stand there in shock. Frost began demanding if you were ok and over and over again he kept asking the same question. Finally, Aquarius began screaming at Frost to let Lightless out of the ice prison thing. Once Lightless was free, Aquarius called for other members of the Resistance to get over to us using her xtransceiver.

Echo and Boulder finally teleported to us using Echo's physic abilities and she gave us an assessment on your health. My lightning intercepted most of the impact but it still cut you. She bandaged you up and I slung you on my back, and as we were all getting ready to head back here, Boulder stopped Frost from coming with us. They began arguing and Boulder was saying that as leader, he couldn't let Frost anywhere near the Resistance because he just tried to murder Lightless and you. Boulder said that you were now a member of the Resistance and that you were his responsibility now and he just couldn't take Frost. Frost began freaking out and demanded to come with you, but the only reason he finally stopped was because... Boulder told him he was dangerous to you, and if he didn't want to hurt you, he should let you leave.

The next thing I knew, Echo had teleported us back here and Boulder told me to carry you upstairs. Amie had made a bed for you and so I put you down, and now 9 or so hours later, here we are." Note finished his story with a deep sigh as he still seemed to by trying to accept it all himself.

"Wait a second..." I took a moment to gather up my thoughts to try to put together one sentence... "Frost is _gone_?" Horror dropped like a stone on my chest. "Are you serious! He left because of me! What if he get hurt, or even _killed? _I-I have to go after him!" I cursed as I threw the blankets off my legs and hurled myself to my feet.

At the same time, Note rose to meet me, keeping his eyes level with mine. Deep in his eyes, I saw understanding, but there was something else as well. I took a step forward and felt a jolt of pain radiate from my chest, forcing me to land hard on my knees on the paneled floors while clutching my heart. I felt Note's hand on my back as he knelt beside me.

"Holy crap!" Note gasped. "Are you ok!"

I drew a shaky hand from my heart and it came back stained red. I pulled the T-shirt down to see more blood slowly seeping through the white gauze. "I-I think I just reopened it." I squeezed my eyes shut against the pain and winced when I tried to take a deep breath.

"Hold on," Note offered me a reassuring smile, "I'll go get Echo." Note hurried out of the room and I didn't move in fear of worsening the injury on my chest. I squeezed my bloodstained hand into a fist and cursed myself for being so damn weak and blood splattered from my hand onto the floor.

A girl I assumed to be Echo came into the room with a duosion clutching to her shoulder. Note was nowhere to be seen and it unnerved me a little bit to be with someone I've never met before. The girl was pretty but a little plain and she looked at least six inches shorter than me. Her long golden hair was an even richer yellow than Note's as his was a little more electric. Her hair was straight and perfectly even with nothing special at all about it. This girl wore a simple light purple dress with a dark purple sash tied around her waist. She had intelligent faded blue eyes and a small smile plastered on her face. She seemed robotic like the scientists and it added to her unnerving factor.

"I can assure you," she said in a small, sweet voice, "that I am not associated with the scientists."

"Wait-what!" I stammered. "W-was I speaking out loud! I'm sorry, I didn't realize!"

The girl giggled sweetly but it only looked creepy. "I heard you think it. I'm a physic type after all! Does it really make such a difference for you that Note is here? I can call him back in if you want."

"Get the hell outta my head!" I snapped while clenching my bloody hand into a fist. "You can't go poking around there!"

Both the girl and her duosion giggled in that creepy sweet way that intimidated me. "It seems we got off to a bad start. My name is Echo, because I hear the echo of everyone's thoughts. This duosion is my partner, and her name is Jelly! You really should be in bed, by the way. I can see the blood through your bandages from here."

I gritted my teeth and carefully put myself back into the straw pile bed. I moved delicately so as not to irritate the wound anymore. It wasn't the pain I was worried about. I was just concerned as to how much longer I'd be immobilized.

The moment I was settled, there was a purpleish flash of light and then Echo and Jelly appeared at my bedside with Echo's hand clasping my bloody one.

I jumped in fear but winced from the pain in my chest, and tugged my hand away from her. "Hey! Don't touch me without permission!"

"Wow," Echo put her face really close to mine so our noses were less than an inch apart. "You're pretty mean. I told you my name and you don't tell me yours?" Echo cupped my check with her hand and Jelly appeared on my lap all of a sudden.

"Look," I squirmed in uncomfort, "I don't care what you're into, but I'm straight." I pushed her away by the shoulder and took a breath of air now that she wasn't an inch away from me. I picked up Jelly and handed her to Echo who took her with another creepy giggle. "My name is Scarlet, by the way. I'm a fire type. I wish I could say 'nice to meet you,' but you're really making a bad impression."

"Jeez," Echo huffed. "You certainly don't hold back, do you?"

"Even if I did, you'd just hear me think it," I countered.

"Take off your shirt," Echo commanded.

I felt my cheeks darken. "W-what? I already told you I'm straight!"

"I have to check your injuries, dummy!" Echo smiled like honey but behind her eyes I saw the sting of a bedrill. "Why do you think I told Note to leave?"

"Wow," I whistled. "I don't think this could be anymore uncomfortable." Reluctantly, I removed my already blood stained white shirt to reveal reddening white gauze wrapped around my chest.

Echo walked around the bed and sat in the stool where Note was previously sitting. Her eyes never left my chest and I looked away from the burning awkward. Suddenly, Echo's eyes began glowing a shade of gold and the gauze around my chest suddenly began to become undone as Echo used her physic power to remove the bandages.

"Hey, wait a second!" I protested while trying to cover my chest.

"Relax," Echo smiled without moving her eyes away from my chest. "I have to look at the wound and retreat it and crap."

I rolled my eyes and cursed under my breath.

. . .

"What the hell is wrong with your doctor?" I asked Note as he rocked back and forth in the stool by my bedside. He brought a luxio with him that sat curled on his lap as Note affectionately stroked him. "She couldn't have made things more uncomfortable. The scientists didn't really poke me and prod me that much since I got my ability."

Note stopped stroking the luxio in his lap and laughed. "Yeah, Echo's a real flirt, isn't she!"

"So," I raised my eyebrows and smiled at the luxio. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend here?"

"Oh yeah!" Note exclaimed. "I have him with me so often I forgot to introduce you! This is my partner, Swift. Echo has the duosion thing named Jelly and lots of people have partner pokemon. Normal trainers have pokemon too but we don't use pokeballs or anything. You could even get a partner too, if you ever found one."

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "He's so cute! And you two seem really close."

"Damn right! Swift and I make a kick ass team, like thunder and lightning." Note scooped up Swift's upper body and nuzzled his head with affection.

"Luuuxxx!" Swift cooed in reply and he rubbed his head against Note's.

"Anyway, what did she say about your injuries?" Note asked as he put Swift down and went back to petting him.

"She said I was going to heal within a few days and just to not over work myself too much." I brought my legs up to my chest and hugged them close but was careful not to irritate the wound on my chest. The wound inflicted by Frost. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to formulate a picture in my mind of my perspective of things. Do I hate Frost? Do I want to look for him? The second I heard of his absence I wanted to rush to look for him, but now I'm really not so sure. Am I better off without him? Can I bring myself to abandon him? So many thoughts flew across my mind it was hard to pinpoint a single one.

"I guess we can use that time to show you around the place." Note offered me a positive smile that I only saw out of the corner of my mind. I was looking at my knees that were covered by the faded white of the blankets. I dully thought of the lab which seemed so far away all of a sudden. Good. "Hey, you alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah... I'm just not sure of a lot of things."

"Like what?" Note innocently asked without thinking much of it.

Part of me wanted to speak to him, but part of me wouldn't allow me too. I had no reason to distrust Note, only reasons to trust him. He saved my life on two occasions in one night. _Shit- that means I owe him, right? _I looked up at him, and found him looking at me through almost child like innocent green eyes. It was hard to believe he went through the same hell in the lab I did. "I'm not sure about Frost."

"What are you trying to decide?" Note said. He stopped leaning on his stool and even ceased petting Swift, offering me his full attention.

"I-I'm not sure if I hate him. I don't know if I should even bother looking for him," I said while fidgeting with the blankets. "He's the only friend I've ever known, and yet things changed so quickly in just one day... Or maybe I didn't realize things were changing until today, or yesterday rather."

"How is it that things changed?" Note's attention never wavered.

"Frost just sort of turned evil. He lost control of his powers and became so consumed with killing the second he started." I wasn't sure why I was explaining this, but my thoughts began to clear themselves up.

"Didn't you feel the same loss of control at one point?" Note said. I looked up at him with my mouth parted in surprise.

"How did you know that?" I asked with wide eyes.

"I felt it too. Everyone here has. Sometimes, our abilities can get the better of us and we loose ourselves to instinct. Keeping in mind that we really aren't supposed to even have these abilities, it's only natural for there to be kinks. Maybe we were created like this on purpose though... You know, with a hidden desire to kill." Note went back to rocking on his chair and stroking Swift. His gaze rested on the wooden ceiling although the direction of his words was never lost. "It takes a lot of work to control instincts."

I allowed my mind to wander back to the damned lab. It is true that once I began killing I was consumed by it too. Was that instincts? Was I fighting against a force my mind registered as an enemy and therefore attacked? I looked over at Note who held my gaze. "But the difference between me and Frost is that I felt bad about what I did after my instincts wore off and he didn't."

"Does that make him a bad person to you?" Note tilted his head to the side with his eyes glittering with a childish pretext although the deep wisdom behind them was very hard to miss.

"Not a bad person..." I replied slowly. "He just needs to get his morals together."

"Do you see why he doesn't feel bad for the scientists?"

"Yes," I nodded. "It's because of what they've done to us. They tortured us and... and..." An image of Ink flashed through my mind and I swallowed a lump in my throat. The pignite that burned me was forever burned in my memories. I could clearly see their callous expressions, the mindless clicking of their pens... all while I was withering in agony before their eyes.

"Then why is it that you feel bad for what you've done to them?"

Silence hung heavy in the air, chocking me and refusing to let me answer. Is silence truly my answer? I clenched my teeth. What are the morals behind revenge? I shuttered and drew the blankets closer to me for comfort. There was blood on my hands, and whether I killed an innocent child or one of the scientists, there was still blood on my hands nonetheless. But is it really the same thing? In the end, all you have is dirty hands, but can it be justified?

I guess when I reach the bottom of everything there is one thing that remains the core of my analysis. Killing is wrong... but is it always? Was Frost right about everything? He was callous and he didn't care about the scientists, but I can't really pinpoint the source of my pity. It was my humanity wasn't it? I was so happy that I was able to feel and reason and be a human. But what does it mean to be human?

I guess I don't know. Since I'm not one. I looked over at Note and for some reason I thought of Subject 62. He's dead now, barely got a chance at life because the scientists screwed it up for him. Out of nowhere, I found myself smiling the smallest of smiles, even if it was a sad one. "I don't really know why I feel bad for the scientists. I'm not sure why I was sorry for what I had done. Was it naïve of me to think that it was wrong to kill, even though that person did so much wrong by me?"

The wisdom in Note's eyes shone through like sunlight filtering through leaves. "Honestly Scarlet... I can't say I know for sure either."

We sat together in silence for a while. However long it was, I'm not sure, but the silence did wonders to clear my head. Like the finding a missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle, everything became clearer with its addition. I sat upright with a bolt and ignored the pain in my chest.

"Note!" I exclaimed with a smile on my face. He looked over at me with inquisitive eyes, sharpened with interest. "I understand now... I remember why I felt so bad for what I did to the scientists. It was because... killing them made me stoop to their level. By killing them, and harming them, I was no longer separated from them in our actions. It gave us something in common, and I hate that more than anything."

My eyes were fixed ahead of me, staring at nothing in particular. I had expected Note to respond, but he did not, and when I turned to face him, he was cheerfully smiling at me. It wasn't just plain old cheerfulness though, but... pride. "You're even more interesting than I thought," Note laughed.

"Wait, w-what?" I stammered. "What are you talking about?"

"I like how your mind works, Scarlet. I didn't offer you a single shred of insight, and yet you came to that conclusion all on your own accord." Note stood up with a now sleeping Swift in his arms although I never noticed the luxio fall asleep. "You're very different, you know? Almost everyone in the Resistance thinks exactly like Frost. I was surprised when you said otherwise, but I decided I like you a lot for it." Note made his way for the door and turned back to face me just before leaving. "I learned a lot from you, Scarlet."

I blinked in confusion as he shut the wooden door behind him, leaving me questioning what he meant.


End file.
